How much time will you be able to devote to
your garden on a regular basis? The answer to this
question will dictate the size of your garden. You
must remember that, once planted, the garden will
have to be weeded once a week, irrigated during
droughts, and vegetables harvested when ripe.
Depending on the type of vegetables, you may also
need to undertake pest control measures.

Varieties include both the slicer or fresh salad type and the
pickle type (which can also be used fresh); vined, dwarfvined
and bush varieties; all female or all-female seedless
(no pollination required); burpless; and, various mixtures of
these characteristics. Disease resistance is available in many
varieties.

Lettuce, a cool-season vegetable crop, is one of the easiest to grow. Lettuce withstands light frost; however, sunlight and high summer temperatures usually cause seedstalk formation (bolting) and bitter flavor. Slow-bolting or
heat-resistant varieties are available and are recommended
for extending the lettuce-growing season.

Onions are often grouped according
to taste. The two main types of onions
are strong flavored (American) and
mild (often called European). Each has
three distinct colors, yellow, white, and
red. In general, the American onion
produces bulbs of smaller size, denser
texture, stronger flavor, and better
keeping quality than European types.
Globe varieties tend to keep longer in
storage.

As a general rule, plant selection and production area
in a home garden should be limited to what you can
properly care for. It is better to have a small, welltended
planting area rather than a large, neglected
one. Small fruits offer certain advantages over fruit
trees for home culture because small fruits require
less space for the amount of fruit produced, and they
bear fruit one or two years after planting. Success with
small-fruit planting will depend on the attention given
to all phases of production, including crop and variety
selection, site selection, soil management, fertilization,
pruning, and pest management.

It is desirable to locate the fruit planting as close to your home as possible. Where space is limited, fruit trees may be set in almost any location suitable for ornamental plants. Consider the mature size of the tree when designing the planting.

This 2017 Virginia Pest Management Guide provides the latest recommendations for controlling diseases, insects, and weeds for home grounds and animals. The chemical controls in this guide are based on the latest pesticide label information at the time of writing. Because pesticide labels change, read the label directions carefully before buying and using any pesticide. Regardless of the information provided here, always follow the latest product label instructions when using any pesticide.

Tree fruits are important to the agricultural
economy in Virginia. The commonwealth
ranks sixth in the nation in apple production,
with a crop valued at more than $68 million,
and 20th in peach production, with a crop
valued at $4.5 million. Although smaller in
acreage, cherries, pears, and plums also play
an important role in some areas of Virginia.
These fruit crops are susceptible to an everchanging
array of insects, plant diseases,
and weeds, and pest management programs
are complex and knowledge-intensive.

New varieties and strains of particular varieties of vegetables are
constantly being developed throughout the world. Since it is impossible
to list and describe all of them, only some of the better
performing commercial types are listed in the specific crop section,
either alphabetically or in order of relative maturity from early to
late. These varieties are believed to be suitable for commercial production
under most conditions.

This booklet summarizes more than 50 experiments of arthropod pest management research conducted on vegetable crops in Virginia in 2011. Experiments were primarily conducted at three Virginia Tech research stations: the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center (ESAREC) near Painter, VA, the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center (HRAREC) in Virginia Beach, VA and the Kentland Research Farm near Blacksburg, VA. All plots were maintained according to standard commercial practices.

In recent years cucurbit growers in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. could purchase their seeds pre-treated
with the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam. The insecticide seed treatment is currently
packaged as FarMore F1400, which also includes three proven and complementary fungicides
that provide the first line of defense against several key seed and seedling diseases including
Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, Pythium, general damping-off and seedling blight.